Airwell Groupwww.airwellgroup.com.au

2 AUSTRALIA � Airwell Group

Airwell GroupPumps with potential02

3JUNE 2013 � The International Resource Journal

Airwell GroupPumps with potential

AuSTrAliA

4 AUSTRALIA � Airwell Group

Family business Airwell Group is ready to take the oil & gas industry by storm with its unique pumping system capable of low flow pumping from liquid-loaded gas wells

iT wAS bAck in the early 1980s when then-farmer

Alan Brown developed the unique direct air dis-

placement pumping system that became the Air-

well pump. When first built, the invention revolution-

ised the way farmers obtained and pumped water

to their stock or dams. Today, that innovative pump-

ing technology – virtually unchanged in principle –

is on the cusp of revolutionising the de-liquefying of

liquid-loaded gas wells in the oil & gas industry.

The company Alan created, Airwell Group

Pty Ltd, has applied the Airwell technology to a

diverse range of pumping applications over the

past 30 years, in work contracts with some of

Australia’s largest mining, environmental and

industrial companies. Airwell pumps have been

used for pollution recovery, corrosive fluid appli-

cations, salinity management, mine site dewater-

ing and low flow rate applications.

Different applications have required minor

pump adaptations – a greater resistance to

flammable, explosive and otherwise hazardous

liquids and environments, for example, or greater

mechanical strength to deal with higher pres-

sures – but Alan says the pump’s fundamental

principles haven’t changed.

Moving into the oil & gas sector several years

ago necessitated the most significant adjust-

ments ever made to the Airwell pump. “None of

the adaptations we made previously were any-

thing like as radical as the changes that oil & gas

work necessitated,” says Alan.

“The amount of adaptation and learning

we’ve had to do in the last six years is 50 times

the amount we’ve had to do previously. It really

has been a massive step outside the box for us.”

Nuts and boltsOriginally designed for pumping water in agricul-

tural applications, the Airwell Pump can operate

up to 15km from power, is economical to run and

safer and more reliable than more traditional wa-

ter pumping methods. The first one was sold in

1984, the design patented in 1986 and the com-

pany Airwell Pumps Pty Ltd launched in 1988. In

the 90s, its innovative design gained it a niche

market in the mining and industrial sectors,

where it overcame pumping issues associated

with pollution recovery, leachate recovery from

tailings dams and open-cut pit-wall stabilisation.

The pump uses a ‘Direct Air Displacement’

method to pump fluids, controlling the process

with an electronic controller at the head of the

bore. This cycles pressure to and from the pump

5JUNE 2013 � The International Resource Journal

in line with the full and empty signals received

from it. The process is continuous until external

influences stop it.

The Airwell Pump is able to handle high-grit

and corrosive material, as well as flow rates rang-

ing from 0-100,000 litres per day. It can adjust

to varying bore yields and self-regulate without

damage to the pump or bore. It is Australian-

made and has few moving parts, giving it long

service life and high reliability.

Alan explains that the pump’s proficiency

with low flow rates solves a significant problem in

the oil & gas industry. “The pumps traditionally

used for de-liquefying gas wells are very effective

“Our pump, by virtue of the completely different way in which it operates, can actually pump down to no flow at all. It gets slower and slower until it stops because it’s run out of fluid, meaning it can’t be damaged by lack of fluid and is just as energy efficient in pumping little as it is pumping more” – Alan Brown, managing director

when there are large amounts of water involved;

however, when the gas well reaches really low

amounts of fluid, traditional pumping methods

Schneider elecTric And Airwell pArTner on SucceSSful oil And GAS projecT in QueenSlAnd AuSTrAliA

Schneider Electric and Airwell have partnered on a project of five Coal Field de-gasification test

wells that has the potential to extend to over 500 wells on this first site. For Airwell, the project

was underpinned by the need to create cost efficiency and productivity on the job. They sought

out and consulted Schneider Electric Australia after using this equipment extensively on similar

trials in Canada and Texas. Schneider Electric leveraged their global expertise to provide

market leading solutions in control and telemetry for the remote areas of Queensland Australia.

The Schneider Electric solutions deployed include the latest Clear SCADA supervisory control

system, radios, RTUs, and software to optimise the unique features and benefits of the Airwell

Positive Gas Displacement pumping method for the Coal Seam Gas industry. Airwell has found

that the suite of Schneider Electric technologies offer best-in class solutions, and create cost and

efficiency benefits that allows them to work smarter achieving more for less input.

6 AUSTRALIA � Airwell Group

“The opportunity for us, with all the potential wells in Australia unequipped, is extremely good”

7JUNE 2013 � The International Resource Journal

become problematic and unreliable because

they’re not suited to low flow rates,” he says.

“Our pump, by virtue of the completely different

way in which it operates, can actually pump down

to no flow at all. It gets slower and slower until it

stops because it’s run out of fluid, meaning it can’t

be damaged by lack of fluid and is just as energy

efficient in pumping little as it is pumping more.

“There’s an overlap in technology – we’re

extremely good at pumping from no flow to 40

barrels per day, but lose efficiency towards the

rate of 100 barrels per day. Conventional pump-

ing methods operate quite well down to 40 bar-

rels per day, but with fewer than that they are

less effective.”

Entering a new industryIn 2006, Airwell Pumps Pty Limited became

Airwell Group Pty Ltd in order to accommodate a

new subsidiary business: Airwell Oil & Gas. The

company realised that Airwell pumping technol-

ogy was well suited for oil & gas applications

– particularly de-liquefying coal seam gas wells,

which Alan says rarely contain large amounts of

fluid – and set up this separate business in order

to grasp the opportunity. But entering this large

and unfamiliar market wasn’t easy.

“During the last six years, you could almost

have called us a research and development com-

pany,” says Alan. “My son [Raymond] and I large-

ly stepped out of our day-to-day Airwell Pumps

activities and dedicated our time almost entirely

to developing the oil & gas business. I have prob-

ably spent a total of four years living in Texas and

Canada, doing the research.”

Airwell began experimenting in Kentucky ini-

tially, then opened an office in Texas. It attracted

the attention of Canadian energy company Husky

Energy, who was interested in using Airwell’s

technology to drain its many liquid-loaded wells.

The two companies began trialling the initial oil &

gas pumps together. All was going well until the

markets threw a spanner in the works.

“The whole process came to a screeching halt

when the North American gas price collapsed,”

says Alan. “Husky was very reluctant to call off our

Canadian trials when the gas price fell, but, when

it finally reached its lowest price, they said, ‘sorry,

we’ll just have to put the trials on hold’.”

Airwell Oil & Gas halted operations in the US

and Canada about 18 months ago now, but Alan

reveals he’s been talking with Husky “almost

every day” in the past few weeks, over which time

the gas price has improved.

“We’re starting to get a lot of renewed interest

from Canada and it’s likely that fairly soon we’ll be

back up there doing some more trials,” he adds.

“But because the gas price was bad for so long,

8 AUSTRALIA � Airwell Group

I think companies are going to need to see gas

prices exceeding $4 for quite some time before

they’re brave enough to get back into it again.”

Opportunity in AustraliaThe Canadian market for Airwell’s technol-

ogy is huge; according to Alan, the country has

210,000 liquid-loaded gas wells that need de-

liquefying. He says there is also “massive poten-

tial in the low-producing strip of oil wells in North

America,” but the marketing of new technology in

this “very traditional” industry proved difficult in

previous attempts.

While gas prices recover in Canada and the

US, Airwell is focusing on the burgeoning oil & gas

industry in Australia. “Australia is a latecomer to the

shallow, land-based gas industry, however, it could

potentially be a very big player if the operators can

get their acts together and satisfy the environmen-

tal concerns and the local people,” says Alan. “The

opportunity for us, with all the potential wells in Aus-

tralia unequipped, is extremely good.”

The greatest potential in Australia right now

probably lies in its emerging liquefied natural

gas (LNG) industry, but it will be a while until

those wells require pumps. So for the moment,

Airwell is focusing on Australian coal seam

gas projects. It is currently working in northern

Queensland with a major coal mining company

to extract methane from coal reserves before

they are mined. This will reduce the methane

gas released into the atmosphere through open-

cut mining, thus minimising the carbon tax the

company has to pay. Collecting the methane gas

rather than releasing it into the atmosphere is

also better for the environment.

Looking ahead, Alan says Airwell will be con-

centrating strongly on Queensland – partly be-

cause it’s closer to home – with the intention to

return to Canada in several months’ time as long

as the gas price remains stable.

“We’ve also just been invited back to have

another go at some shale wells north of Dallas,

which will be deep trialling with a slightly differ-

ent concept that’s even more experimental,” he

says. “But we won’t be able to get to that in the

timeline they were after.”

Massive potentialAirwell didn’t realise it at the time it made the deci-

sion but, in entering the oil & gas market, it may

have bitten off more than it can chew. The industry

is dominated by major players, among which family-

based company Airwell sticks out like a sore thumb.

“It just isn’t something that a small company could

pretend to do long term,” remarks Alan.

“If Husky in Canada decided to equip even 10%

of its 32,000 wells, that’s millions of man hours

9JUNE 2013 � The International Resource Journal

of work and you just can’t build a business up that

fast – it’s impossible and you wouldn’t want to try.”

In other words, the potential for Airwell’s tech-

nology to come into high demand – it is, after all, a

unique patented process that fills a large niche in

the oil & gas industry – could force Alan to strike a

deal with a larger service company to take over the

operation of the business. “If we wound up retain-

ing a small percentage, or a directorship or what-

ever, that would do us fine. We would prefer to have

small part of a business that lives up to its poten-

tial, than to try and grow it ourselves only to lose it

in the end,” he explains.

“The day that one of the major oil

companies places an order for a significant

amount of gear – and we can almost see it

happening now – the sector’s major suppliers

will want to buy us out. Typically, big companies

with power buy out small companies with

ideas; that’s how the world works and there’s

nothing wrong with that, it’s a natural cycle.”

The oil & gas market may be uncertain right

now, but one thing’s clear: Airwell and its innova-

tive pumps are headed for great things.

www.AirwellGroup.com.Au

AS Seen in The june 2013 iSSue of The inTernATionAl reSource journAl

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